Title: Blackout

Author: Lady Hachimitsu

Disclaimer: Own lots of things but Naruto is not one of them. Also, Suzue's kekkei genkai is based off an ability found the Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanders, so don't even really own that either...

Warnings: Anxiety, freakouts, minor panic attacks, and Naruto normal violence

Author Note: Throws the chapter at you and runs.

Chapter: Eleven - Waiting...

A loud bang startled Suzue awake, resulting in her trying to reach out for the best piece of metal to use to attack whatever had made the loud noise. Only...she couldn't find that best piece of metal or any other metal. In her confusion, still half-asleep and operating on reflexes, Suzue reached for her chakra.

Pain shot through her body.

A choked off cry passed her lips as she curled into herself in a vain attempt to stop the pain. Suzue pulled her chakra back into the tight ball once more as she focused more on making sure she kept breathing instead of what was going on around her. Trusting the boys could take care of whatever was threatening them.

It seemed like forever before the pain faded to manageable levels. Once it did, she looked up to see what was going on and figure out what was happening. Suzue blinked in surprise at what she found.

Team Eight was in their room. Sasuke and Naruto were standing defensively in front of the bed she was currently in, blocking her from view. Naruto was shouting at Kiba while Sasuke glared at the dog-like boy. Kiba was shouting back at Naruto while Shino buzzed just behind him in support. Hinata, on the other hand, seemed torn between standing with her teammates or trying to prevent the fight from escalating. Or maybe she didn't want her teammates fighting with Naruto?

Then what Naruto and Kiba were shouting about registered in her fuzzy brain. They were arguing about her.

Apparently, Kiba was the one responsible for the loud noise that had startled her awake. Which she totally believed as Kiba was always loud unless he had to be otherwise. (He could be quiet, just didn't like it.) Her boys were pissed over the fact that waking her up had caused her pain and wanted payment in the form of Kiba's blood. Kiba wasn't taking to being yelled out too well and was defensive about the whole thing, not wanting to take the blame.

Suzue took a couple of breaths, throat hurting, and did a brief test of all her limbs before addressing her teammates.

"Boys, I'm alright."

The yelling stopped. Sasuke gave Naruto the floor as he turned to face her and Naruto moved to cover both of them. The blond did spare a glance at her before going back to scowling and glaring at Kiba who was snarling right back.

"Do you need anything?" Sasuke asked. "What happened?"

"Pain meds," Suzue answered the first. She was pretty sure she had been out long enough for the last dose to have worn off. If not, then she needed more for the fresh wave of pain she had just gotten.

"Do I need to crush them up?" Sasuke asked before reaching for one of their nearby packs to retrieve said pain medicine.

"No, I can swallow them, water too please," Suzue answered as she closed her eyes and focused on breathing. She opened them again when she felt Sasuke leaning in close, holding out the requested items. Taking them, Suzue took a sip of water before tilting her head back, which made her neck twinge a bit as she dropped the pills into her mouth. Swallowing hurt even more but she got both pills down without choking, so she counted it as a win.

"What the hell happened to your neck?" Kiba demanded drawing both Suzue's and Sasuke's attention back to him. "And why are wearing Naruto's jacket? You two get together or something?"

Suzue let out a groan dropping her head into her hands as yet another person jumped to conclusions. Then she realized that Kiba was right and she was still wearing Naruto's jacket. Did she fall asleep with it on?

"Don't say things like that!" Naruto yelled at the boy. "We're just friends. Suzue-chan doesn't want to date anyone."

"Well, I can see why she wouldn't want to date you, loser," Kiba taunted. "She's probably one of Sasuke's fangirls anyways. Just all shy and quiet about it."

Suzue could feel her face turning red, though she wasn't sure if it was in embarrassment or anger. Maybe both?

"Don't talk about things you don't know about, makes you sound stupid," Sasuke sneered.

"What? Is Ino right and she's actually a he? Is Suzue-kun pretending to be a girl to get at you?" Kiba continued to taunt.

Even though her chakra was currently bound up as tight as she could make it and thus couldn't use her kekkei genkai to attack Kiba, it didn't mean that she couldn't throw a kunai. No one saw it coming, not even her teammates. Everyone froze as they looked at her then to the kunai now embedded in the wall behind Kiba then back to her. A trickle of blood slid down Kiba's cheek, blending into his clan markings.

"Please stop making allusions to me being interested in anything romantic. I'm barely thirteen, have no interest in sex at the moment, and still have a body of a child. I don't care if you think I'm a boy or not, but if you make taunts about me wanting to jump Sasuke's dick like his fangirls again, I'll shred you to ribbons," Suzue informed the wide-eyed boy in front of Naruto. "Then hand you over to my brother. My older, overprotective brother who has a major sister-complex. And is a Chunin."

Both Naruto and Sasuke shuddered at the mention of her brother, which just added to the effect. Kiba took a step back, tilting his head a little to the side, and held up his hands. Even Shino had a slightly unnerved air about him while Hinata's eyes seemed larger than usual with her hands twirling around each other in agitation.

"Hehe, no need to get older siblings involved," Kiba nervously chuckled, taking another step back. Akamaru gave a low whine as he tried to hide further into Kiba's hood. "Just a bit of trash talk and jokes. No harm meant."

"Whatever," Suzue muttered as she sighed and relaxed her body. The room immediately lightened, which made Suzue frown. Had she done something?

"S-so, you're...um...not d-dating, Na-Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stammered, fingers pushing against each other.

"Nope!" Naruto answered as he sat next to Suzue, throwing his arms around her in a hug. "Found out that girls can be friends and not just girlfriends. So we're just friends! We hang out and do fun things! Like, make lunch together."

Hinata let out a squeak, and Suzue remembered of Hinata's crush on Naruto. If she remembered correctly, the two of them ended up together with two kids in the epilogue. And didn't they make a new series based on Naruto's oldest kid? What was his name again? Bolt? Boruto? Burrito? Hadn't some kid been named Salad too?

"Wow, you blush just like Suzue-chan," Naruto observed as Hinata turned even redder from having Naruto talk to her.

Hinata fainted.

"Ah! Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out as he scrambled off the bed over to the girl. Shino had caught her and gently lowered her to the ground while Kiba and Naruto both panicked over the girl.

Suzue sighed, "Can you hand me my pack? I have smelling salts in there."

Sasuke grunted but did as was requested. Fishing out the salts, Suzue tossed them to Shino who quickly caught them before holding them under Hinata's nose. With a sneeze, the dark-haired girl was blinking her eyes open only to squeak when Naruto was the first thing she saw.

"I don't get crushes," Suzue muttered as she hoped the other girl didn't just pass out again. Sasuke grunted again, his tone suggesting that he agreed with her. Was it normal to blush, stammer, and act...weird around a person one liked romantically? It sounded horrible. And why would she even want to be with someone that made her feel that way? It seemed way too tiring. Also, passing out like that could not be healthy.

"Could you answer Kiba's other question? How did you get those bruises? We would like to know so we can be prepared against whoever did," Shino suddenly spoke up, pulling Suzue from her thoughts on crushes and how they didn't sound appealing.

"I was choked," Suzue answered, realizing that Hinata had mostly recovered from having Naruto's attention on her. She was staring at the ground like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Suzue could at least sympathize with that feeling if not the reason behind it.

"Well, duh," Kiba drawled and rolled his eyes. Akamaru let out a bark of agreement. "But how did you guys beat the team who did it? I mean, those are really nasty."

Team Seven hesitated and gave each other looks. It was a little weird being a part of it, but Suzue could read the questions in their expressions. Should they reveal Orochimaru to Team Eight? Suzue still wasn't sure on how secret they were supposed to keep their involvement with the Snake Sannin. Or even what they could tell Team Eight about everything without making up a complete lie. Relief, flooded Suzue when, with a look, Sasuke let them know that he had come to a decision and to trust him with this.

"A rogue ninja has, for some reason, targeted me. He infiltrated the Chunin Exams and attacked us. Once he got what he wanted from me, he left. But not before becoming annoyed with Suzue, nearly choking her to death."

"What?" Kiba deadpanned. "You expect us to believe that? Just say you got your asses kicked by a team and had to hunt down two scrolls. That's what happened, right? So who was the team? What should we expect from them? We can give you info on the other team here in exchange."

"There wasn't a team, dog breath!" Naruto snapped. "Just that stupid Snake Ghost attacking us by himself."

"Snake Ghost? What kind of stupid name is that?" Kiba snorted. "Stop lying already."

"What did the missing-nin want? You said he left after he got what he wanted," Shino asked. He seemed to be focusing on them, but it was hard to tell with his tinted glasses on.

"Still figuring that out," Sasuke answered. "We'll be working with our Jounin-sensei on that. We really can't say more about it, as it does involve an ongoing investigation."

"Bullshit," Kiba scoffed. "Fine if you don't want to tell us, we won't tell you about the Suna team who's here with us. Just stay out of their way, especially the red-haired one."

"Gaara of the Desert?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" Kiba blinked looking surprised.

"That's right, you asked Kabuto-san about him," Shino noted. "But yes, that one."

"We already know to stay away from him," Suzue sighed as Naruto made a face.

"Yeah, his gourd is like filled with blood or something," Naruto added.

"No, it's sand," Kiba countered. "But..."

"It's mixed with blood, isn't it?" Sasuke asked, leaning on the wall next to the bed.

"How did you know that? You did not encounter him in the Forest as he and his team were here before we were," Shino questioned.

"Ran into him pre-exams," Sasuke explained.

"There's metal in blood," Suzue spoke up softly as she wrapped her arms around herself. "It's not normal to be able to sense, though it's possible. I can't...normally. There would have to be a lot, a lot of blood in that sand for me to pick up on it."

Silence rang in the room as everyone absorbed that information. For nearly a minute, no one spoke until Sasuke let out a sigh.

"Look, you might not believe us, but we really were attacked by a missing-nin. He seems to like disguising himself, but if you encounter anyone with gold eyes and purple eyeshadow, run away."

"Fine, whatever," Kiba scowled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "We'll leave you to rest up so we can kick your asses properly in the next exam."

"Like you could! We'll be doing the ass-kicking!" Naruto threw back with a confident smirk.

"Not with the way we trained!"

"Hah! You haven't seen Suzue-chan's training routine! No way you've trained enough to match her."

Suzue rolled her eyes as Kiba and Naruto got into a boosting match over who had the better team and training routine.

Naruto was staring into his death pit trap. The three sound ninja impaled on the shafts of wood he had made for this purpose. No one had ever actually fallen into one of his pits with the spear-like pieces of woods set up in it. He hadn't realized how...gruesome it would be. Two of the sound ninja were already dead, but one was still gasping for breath.

He would die soon enough, but it was best to finish it off now. Just on the slim chance, he survived.

The next thing Naruto knew was that his hands were red, red blood, and the screaming had stopped. When had the screaming even begun? Who had been screaming?

Looking away from his hands back to the death pit, Naruto found that it was no longer the three sound ninja impaled on the wood. It was his teammates. Mouths were gaping open. They had been the ones screaming, Naruto realized. And now they were staring at him with the same dead eyes as the sound ninja, accusing him.

Naruto's hands had blood dripping from them.

The screaming had stopped when Naruto got blood on his hands.

He had...He had...

Naruto was the one screaming now.

A grunt escaped him as he fell to the floor, and Naruto blinked blearily at the wall he was now facing with his chin and shoulder aching. He heard Sasuke grumbling from the bed he had just fallen off, and Naruto realized he had been sleeping. Well, dreaming. Having a nightmare?

Naruto wasn't sure anymore, the details of the dream already escaping him. But it did leave him with his heart pounding and feeling just as terrified as he had been in the woods when neither of his teammates would wake up.

He shivered and sat up to glare at Teme who had kicked him out of bed. Only Suzue-chan was sitting up and staring at him with sleepy eyes. She yawned and rubbed at one of them before asking, "Naruto-kun? You alright?"

"Fine, Teme just kicked me out of bed," Naruto waved off as he stood up, brushing the imaginary dust from his clothes.

Suzue-chan let out a humming noise, curling up into a ball with her head resting sideways on her knees so she could still look at him. "It seemed like you were having a nightmare. Do you want to talk about it?"

Naruto froze. He had been having a nightmare, but he didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it. So, he put on his brightest smile, climbed into bed, and said, "It's fine! I don't even remember it anyway. We should get some sleep, so we're ready for whatever happens next!"

Suzue-chan was frowning at him, and Naruto tried to think what he said to put that look on her face. As he was pondering, she reached over Sasuke, who always slept in the middle. It was so Naruto didn't kick Suzue-chan off the bed or force her to cuddle up to the Teme because Naruto kept stealing her part of the bed in his sleep. It wasn't like he meant to do it! No matter what Teme said!

Then Suzue-chan was brushing her fingers on his check, keeping away from his whisker marks - even if he sometimes thought he wouldn't mind much if she were the one to touch them - and saying, "You don't have to pretend to be happy Naruto. If you don't want to talk about it, then just say so. Don't...don't force yourself to smile just make it seem like you're fine."

His breath hitched, and his smile fell as he stared at Suzue-chan, not sure how to take that statement. Smiling had always made people think he was fine. Even if he really, really wasn't.

Emotions were welling up in him. Naruto had no idea what they were, couldn't tell if it was just one emotion or several different ones all mixed into one. But it brought tears to his eyes and suddenly he really, really wanted Suzue-chan to hug him.

Only Teme was in the way.

To solve that problem, Naruto got out bed, rounded it, and nearly threw himself at Suzue-chan for a hug. She accepted it readily, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as he buried his face into her neck and shoulder. He inhaled deeply, her scent of metal and old books filling his nose and easing the emotional bubble that was in his chest.

Suzue-chan's cheek was resting on his head with one of her hands gently running through his hair. For a moment, Naruto wondered if this was what it felt like to have a hug from a mother. Or maybe a big sister. Suzue-chan had both. Well, he knew she had a big sister. Not that Naruto had met her big sister, just her creepy older brother. Maybe Suzue-chan learned to give hugs from her. Or maybe her grandmother she sometimes mentioned.

(Who was also apparently older than the Old Man, weird!)

Naruto didn't realize he had been crying until he moved his head and realized there was a wet spot on Suzue-chan's shirt. He flushed and muttered, "Sorry, Suzue-chan."

"It's fine," Suzue-chan waved off easily. "I cry all the time."

"No, you don't," Naruto protested. "Just...more than us."

Suzue-chan huffed, and he felt her breath ruffled his hair. Naruto closed his eyes, and this close to her, he could hear her heartbeat, which smoothed whatever lingering emotions that had been in his chest away.

They sat like that for a while before Naruto asked in a quiet tone, almost hoping Suzue-chan won't hear it, "Did you dream of killing us after you...after you killed those people in Wave?"

Suzue-chan's petting motions stopped, and she seemed to hold her breath. Naruto was beginning to think she had when she answered, "No."

Naruto let out a sigh and wondered what was wrong with him to dream of killing his teammates when she continued. "No, I didn't dream of killing the two of you. My dream...My dream..."

Naruto waited, but she didn't seem to want to speak anymore. He wondered what could be worse than dreaming of killing one's teammates. And not only one's teammates but one's best friends. Not that he was ever going to tell Teme that!

"You don't have to tell me," Naruto suggested, still snuggled up to her.

"I die," Suzue-chan suddenly said, making Naruto shift to look at her. She had an odd look on her face. It was distance and blank. "I'm the one who is killed. My...someone precious to me is there begging me to stay. At least I think that's what she's saying. I can't hear over the rush of blood still pumping in my veins; the blood that's being pumped out of me with every heartbeat. The blood that fills my lungs, choking me so I can't breathe..."

She stops there, and Naruto's glad of it. He clings to her tighter to reassure himself that she's still alive. He can hear her heartbeat in her chest, feel her breath ruffling his hair, and feel the warmth of her body pressed against his.

"You're alive. You're here," Naruto whispers.

"I'm here," she repeats, tone oddly distanced.

Naruto feels an arm snake between him and Suzue-chan, causing him to look down to see Sasuke making a grumpy face as he tugs Suzue-chan down to the bed with Naruto still attached to her.

"It's the middle of the night, go back to sleep," Sasuke grumbled, curling up against Suzue-chan in the same way, she had snuggled up to him that one night. "We can talk in the morning."

"Alright," Suzue-chan agreed, shifting so that she had one arm around them both.

"Fine," Naruto muttered, cuddling up to Suzue-chan just as much.

No one said anything else, and Naruto didn't think he would manage to fall back asleep. But with both his teammates right there, where he could hear the heartbeats and breathing and feel the warmth of the bodies, his eyes fell shut, and he didn't dream again that night.

"Suzue," Sasuke started the next morning over their breakfast of ramen. There was fruit too, but ramen first according to the Dobe. Suzue looked over at him with her wide-eyes blinking curiously at him. "You're not...not suicidal, right?"

"Huh? What does that mean?" Naruto asked with a mouthful of ramen.

"Don't talk with your mouthful. No one understands you," Sasuke huffed. "Dobe."

Loud slurping noises before Naruto repeated himself.

"Sasuke's asking if I want to kill myself," Suzue answered before stuffing a bite of noodles into her mouth.

"What?! That's stupid! Why would you ask Suzue-chan that, Teme?!" Naruto bellowed, standing up and slamming his hands on the table before leaning forward to glare at Sasuke.

"Because she was talking about dying last night," Sasuke snapped back feeling defensive. He had to know if she was going to leave him too. "And that's not normal."

"Neither are my dreams! Are you going to ask if I want to kill you and Suzue-chan?" Naruto demanded before seemingly realizing what he said and going pale. Sasuke grimaced because he did remember Naruto asking Suzue about dreaming of killing them. No wonder the Dobe didn't want to talk about it.

"As if you could," Sasuke taunted because what was one suppose to do with this information anyway?

"You keep telling yourself that," Naruto snarled.

"I'm not suicidal," Suzue suddenly said making both boys stop and turn to her. She wasn't looking at them but stirring the broth in her cup. "It's...it's just a dream I've had since I've been young. It comes and goes. When I'm more stressed, I have it more often. Killing...when I killed those people in Wave...it brought it out more. It was the nightmare I kept having."

"Are you still having it Suzue-chan?" Naruto asked after a long pause. He sounded...young, lost.

Sasuke hated that.

"Not really. After I talked to Toshi-nii it got better," Suzue answered with a shrug.

"Do you even know why you have that dream?" Sasuke asked, wondering if talking helped or not. Neko-sensei had been the only one he had talked to about the Massacre. The only one he felt he could because she had worked with his father and had been friends with Shisui. That man had murdered Sasuke's cousin, just like he killed everyone else. Even it had been earlier.

But even then, he couldn't tell it all. And he still had nightmares about that night.

Lately, Naruto and Suzue had been in them as well.

Sasuke shook his head to get those thoughts out. They did no one any good.

Suzue didn't answer him, just shrugged again and Sasuke got the feeling she did at least have an idea about why she had those nightmares but wasn't going to tell them. He wondered if her step-mother had tried to kill her and almost succeeded.

"Well, I have no idea why I would dream about me being the ones to kill you guys," Naruto grumbled, glaring moodily at his ramen.

"I think it's just your brain trying to shift through two traumatic events at the same time. It's leading to you having dreams of the events at the same time," Suzue reasoned. "I mean, Sasuke and I almost die, and then you end up having to kill people before you even have a chance to process that."

Naruto was staring at her. Not in starstruck awe that she had just explained something in a way that made sense to him, but like she had unraveled something he hadn't even know he needed toe resolved. And he didn't like the results of it.

"You and Sasuke had the same scream as them when they fell into the pit," Naruto confided in the quietest tone Sasuke had ever heard from him.

"That probably makes the linking of the two events easier for your brain," Suzue offers. is female teammate didn't seem to care all that much that Naruto is having dreams about killing them.

Naruto huffed and sat back down with a loud 'thump. He crossed his arms and glared at his third cup of ramen for the meal. "I want it to stop. It will stop right, Suzue-chan?"

Sasuke looked at his female teammate, wondering what she'll say. Her nightmares hadn't stopped. His hadn't ended. But their nightmares weren't of killing people. So was it different?

"Honestly, Naruto-kun? I have no idea. But I think if they don't stop, then they'll come less often. Time...time will lessen them at any rate," Suzue finally answered. "And you're welcome to talk to me about it whenever you want. Or you can talk to Kakashi-sensei about it. Or even Neko-sensei, I guess. Or Iruka-sensei? You're close with him, right?"

"Yeah," huffed Naruto. "I'll think about it."

Deciding they were dropping the subject, for now, Sasuke asked, "What do we want to do today anyway? There's not much to do here."

"I would suggest just exploring the tower, but I'm not really up to that," Suzue suggested.

"And Naruto and I aren't leaving you alone in the room just to go explore," Sasuke informed her.

Naruto hummed, and Sasuke noticed a look in his eyes. That look meant he had an off the wall idea that was either going to be stupid or awesome.

"I know how we can explore the tower without leaving the room," Naruto said, a grin growing across his face that spoke of mischief. He was playing with an empty cup of ramen, making Sasuke wondered if ramen was somehow involved with this plan.

Wanting to say no just in case the Dobe was going to suggest a ramen eating contest, Sasuke considered it and decided he was bored enough to say, "We're listening."

A knock came to their door when Team Seven was in the middle of building a to-scale replica of the tower they were currently stuck in because there wasn't anything else to do. Unless they wanted to visit Team Eight. Using used ramen cups and Naruto-clones as scouts, they were about halfway through the tower.

The three Genin shared a look before Naruto got up to go open the door. They weren't expecting anyone. It could be Team Eight, again, but Suzue was pretty sure they would just burst into the room, not knock. Maybe Team Ten had arrived at the tower?

When had they arrived at the tower in the story anyway?

"Gak!" Naruto gasped, drawing Suzue's attention to him just as he slammed the door close and then throwing himself against it. He turned wide-eyes at Suzue and in a loud whisper asked, "Why is your weird, pervert brother here?"

"Toshi-nii is the one at the door?" Suzue blinked as she stood up from the table with their mini tower. Naruto nodded furiously, his body still keeping the door close as another knock sounded. "Er...why aren't you letting him in?"

"Because he's weird! And a pervert!" Naruto reasoned. "And he shouldn't even be here! Why is he here?"

"...He was, is, helping with the Chunin Exams?" Suzue answered in an unsure tone, rubbing the back of her head, only to wince as she put pressure on her neck. "You should let him in before he decides to see if he can shove his ninjato through the door."

Naruto stared at her for a long moment before asking, "...That's a sword, right?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun, that's a sword. Please let my brother in; he could be here on official Chunin Exam business," Suzue sighed, eyeing her chair and debating whether to sit in it again or not.

"Then why not send Iruka-sensei?" Naruto grumbled as he opened the door. The grey-haired Chunin burst into the room, heading straight to Suzue. She only got a small 'eep' out before being engulfed in a hug.

"Suzue-chan! Are you alright? I just learned that you made it to the tower, and you had a bit of a problem getting here. Close the door," Toshi ordered at Naruto who was standing there staring with the door wide open.

"Um," Suzue started before going quiet again, not sure what to say.

"Are you alright, Suzue-chan? Do you need to see a medic?" Toshi demanded once he closed the door. Naruto was edging around the room towards Sasuke.

"I..." Suzue tried again, not sure what to say to her brother. She hadn't even thought he would show up here. "What are you doing here?"

"Another team showed, and I was their greeter," Toshi answered, pulling back a little so he could take a good look at her. "No, I'm not supposed to be here, but when I heard Orochimaru attacked your team...I need to check up on you. What happened to your neck?"

"Oh...um...someone tried to choke me? But! I'm alright. And I'll get checked out by a medic when the Second Exam is over," Suzue answered. "Sasuke and Naruto-kun are alright too...Mostly."

"This Exam is not worth your health, Suzue," Toshi told her seriously. "Nor your teammates. If any of you require a medic, drop out and get yourself taken care of."

"We're fine," Suzue repeated, tone a little more firm. "We know our limits. If needs be, we'll drop out. But there's nothing that needs immediate attention."

"But there is something that needs attention," Toshi pressed, eyes severe.

"Yes..." Suzue admitted turning her eyes away from him and fidgeting with her sleeves. "But it can wait until the exam is over."

She could feel Toshi staring at her, probably deciding if he was going to press the issue further or let it drop. Suzue was just glad he wasn't much of a sensor so he probably couldn't pick up the fact that she was suppressing her chakra.

"I shouldn't tell you three this," Toshi started slowly, and he looked all of them over. "But there is a high chance of there being a preliminary round before the third exam. If that happens, it'll take place when this one ends."

"Preliminary round?" Sasuke questioned. "Why?"

"The Third Exam is always a tournament. It's to show off shinobi skills to clients as much as it is to advocate one's skills. But because it's basically glorified entertainment for clients, there can't be too many shinobi. Or else people get bored. So, Preliminary Rounds. Though I think the last one we had was like five years ago..."

"What makes you think that one is going to happen this time?" Sasuke continued.

Toshi snorted. "There are already four teams in the tower. That's 12 participants. If no more teams show up, then they might wave off the preliminary round, but there's still a day and a half to go. Chances are, at least one more team will show up."

"Toshi-nii's right," Suzue acknowledged making Sasuke sigh and Naruto huff.

"Well, we'll beat anyone! Just watch us!" Naruto declared making Toshi scowl.

"Look," Suzue said before her brother could say anything. "This doesn't change anything for me. Or my teammates. Trust us to know our limits. If I end up having to battle someone that I know, or even think, I can't win against; I'll drop out. And even if I think I can win, if it comes at too high a price, I'll drop out. My teammates will do the same. Just...trust us."

Her brother gave her a long stare before letting out an equally long sigh. Then pulled her into a hug.

"You've always been so independent," Toshi muttered into her hair. Then he let her go. "Alright, you know your limits. I'll trust you. And you two had better be watching out for her!"

"Of course, we are!" Naruto snapped back. "I made sure she was perfectly safe in the forest!"

"We both did," Sasuke added on.

"Uh-huh," Toshi acknowledge before turning back to Suzue. "Nothing untoward happened in the forest did it?"

"No," Suzue said flatly, feeling her eye twitch. "Unless you want to count the plant, but it was more interested in Naruto-kun and Sasuke than me."

"Plant?" Toshi repeated slowly. "You ran into The Plant?"

"The Plant?" Suzue blinked. Of course, that thing had a name even if it was "The Plant" with capital letters.

Toshi nodded then he was hugging the two boys, both of whom had terrified expressions on their faces. "You poor unfortunate souls! I'm so sorry you had to run into that thing. It'll be okay. I promise."

"Ah..." Suzue started only to trail off, not sure what her brother was getting at.

"I'll make sure you two remain just a pure as Suzue-chan!"

Said girl facepalmed as she realized that somehow running into a sentient plant that liked boys for some reason lead to her teammates now being okay for her brother. To the point where she was pretty sure he had just adopted them.

Suzue was pretty sure Naruto still held the same opinion of him as before, and Sasuke agreed with that opinion.

Once her brother finally left, Suzue and her teammates abandoned the scale model of the tower they were making to explore what options they had available for the preliminary rounds of fighting. On their way over, they had discovered that Sasuke couldn't use his chakra without it seeming to fight itself. Which had nearly caused them to be eaten (or worst in the boys' case apparently) by The Plant.

Which meant Naruto was the only one who was in good enough health to fight properly, which Suzue found mildly amusing since in The Story it had been the two boys out of commission. Not that Suzue was complaining, it was just annoying.

During the middle of Naruto mixing some concoctions they could use in a pinch, a loud knock sounded on their door. It made Naruto jump and almost dumped whatever he was holding into his bowl. Suzue eyed what he was working on, wondering if it really would have exploded like his muttering was suggesting.

Sasuke opened the door this time.

"What the hell do you want?" he growled at whoever was at the door.

"I wish to see my beautiful flower! I heard that she had made it through the forest in a most youthful manner!"

It was Lee.

"How is riding on Naruto-kun's back for most of it, youthful?" Suzue muttered as her stomach rolled in nerves. She did not want to deal with Lee and his 'crush'. Why did he even have a crush on her? She was cute like a child was cute. Not cute in a more adult manner that invited romance. So it couldn't have been 'love' at first sight...could it?

"Stop harassing my teammate," Sasuke growled at Lee. "She's not interested."

"Do you always speak for your teammate? Can't she speak for herself?"

And that was not Lee.

Since the voice was male and the only male Suzue could think of who would be with Lee was one Hyuga Neji, it had to be him. Which meant TenTen was probably at the door too.

"Of course she can," Sasuke huffed. If he was a lesser being, Suzue was sure an eye roll would have accompanied that statement. "But she doesn't need to waste breath on the likes of you."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?!" a female voice nearly shouted. "Just because Lee isn't as pretty as you are-"

"Why would I even care about that?" Sasuke interrupted, actually sounding confused. "I was more referring to the fact that he...won't take no for an answer. Why the hell would I even care about how he looks?"

"She hasn't said no," Lee responded. "And it is most unyouthful of you not to let your teammate speak for herself."

"Just go back to whatever hole you three dragged yourselves out from, I'm done here," Sasuke snapped. "And if you don't leave yourself, I'll throw you out of the tower."

"It is not your fate to defeat anyone of us. You would not be able to throw us out of the tower."

The male voice was definitely Neji.

"Yeah, fighting not allowed unless stated otherwise," Tenten tacked on.

"I'm sure I can file a complaint of harassment and have you removed from the Exam," Sasuke countered. "That would get you thrown out of the tower. We've already filed one complaint of harassment with our sensei because of of...him."

"What?" Lee said, sounding confused. "Why? I haven't been harassing your beautiful teammate."

"Yes, you have!"

"Suzue-chan?!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, voice a higher pitch than usual. "Suzue-chan! You need to breathe!"

Oh, so that was what was causing the increase of pain in her chest. She tried to suck in a breath, but her chest didn't seem to want to move. Lifting her hands, Suzue noticed they were trembling. Black spots were floating in her vision, which she knew was bad.

Someone let out a curse, and then there was a sound of people moving around the room. Suddenly someone was gentling pushing on her back so she would bend over. Suzue was pretty sure someone was speaking to her, but there was a rushing noise in her ears that was steadily drowning out any other sounds.

There was a hand holding one of hers. It was squeezing and releasing in a steady rhythm. A stuttering gasp escaped Suzue's mouth, then another, and her vision started to clear. The rushing noise started going away too. And she could hear Sasuke talking in low-tones to her, instructing her on how to breathe.

It was getting easier. Breathing. But Suzue's skin was tingling, and she suddenly felt restless. Like she needed to move, but she also didn't want to move.

"Better?" Sasuke asked once her breathing seemed to even out. Suzue just nodded, not sure she could even talk at the moment.

"Seriously, Lee? You have a crush on someone so weak?" Neji sneered.

Her breath caught in her throat again.

"Suzue-chan isn't weak!" Naruto snarled, an eerie growl echoing on the words. "She could totally wipe the floor with your sorry ass."

Somehow, Suzue managed to keep breathing and not stop doing so again.

"Is something wrong with her?" Tenten asked, sounding like she was trying to be polite but not quite managing it.

"Nothing's wrong with Suzue," Sasuke growled, still holding Suzue's hand. It tightened in her loose gasp.

"Of course not!" Lee easily agreed. "I know the lovely Suzue-chan isn't weak! I've seen her training! She can keep up with Gai-sensei and me easily!"

Oh...Suzue could see Lee having a crush on someone who took training seriously as he did. That made more sense than whatever crush he developed on Sakura in The Story.

Wait? He thought she could keep up with him and Gai?!

"Well, clearly the fates decided she should be touched in the head to counter her physical skills," Neji countered in an airy tone.

"You're the one who's touched in the head!" Naruto threw back as Lee said, "Neji! That is a most unyouthful thing to say."

"What kind of ninja panics if they aren't weak," Neji huffed. "There isn't even anything to panic over."

Suzue swallowed thickly, a part of her wanting to say something but another part of her wanting to stay quiet because she did not have nice things to say about or to Team Gai.

"Suzue-chan doesn't like it when people try to get her to date!" Naruto snapped.

"Did I cause you distressed, my beautiful flower?!" Lee asked her. "It was not my intention to do so, and I shall run fifty, no one hun-"

"SHUT UP!"

Suzue snapped her mouth closed hard enough to make her teeth clink together as she realizes that the shrill voice had been her voice. She hadn't meant to speak. But she had, and now she had everyone's attention focused on her. She couldn't look at them so focused on her and Sasuke's hands still clenched together. When had she tightened her grip?

"Suzue-chan?" Naruto finally ventured as Suzue tried to find some control over herself. She would not snap, shout, or yell at Team Gai.

"Rock-san," Suzue managed to choke out, trying to stay polite, though the fact that she was so formal to someone expressing interest in her was rather rude. Even Sasuke didn't do that with his fanclub. "I...I'm...I'm not interested. So...please...stop."

There was a beat of silence while Suzue focused on just breathing through the tight knot of emotions that seemed to have formed in the middle of her chest. She would not snap...she would not become an emotional mess...She would not take her anger out on a thirteen-year-old boy who seemed under the impression he was in love.

"Very well," Lee finally said in an almost dramatically serious tone. "I accept your answer since I have heard it from your own lips. But know that if you are ever in need, I will come to you at once! For my love burns brightly and in the most youthful of ways!"

Suzue barely managed to keep the petty, 'I doubt that,' from slipping out. Instead, she just sat there, staring at her and Sasuke's hands.

"You have your answer, leave," Sasuke threw at them.

"Of course!" Lee acknowledged. Suzue heard the soft shuffle of feet and the door closing moments later.

"Good riddance," Naruto grumbled. "Suzue-chan, are you okay now?"

The lavender-haired girl honestly wasn't sure if she was or not, so she shrugged.

"Can I give you a hug?" Naruto asked after a moment. Suzue nodded, and the next things she knew, Naruto's warm body wrapped around her from behind. The blond's hugs were always tight like he was scared the person he was hugging would disappear from his arms. But right now, Suzue didn't care as she leaned into him.

Glancing at Sasuke, Suzue hesitated for a moment before lifting her arm a little in a silent offer to let Sasuke join. An emotion crossed his face that Suzue couldn't identify before he shook his head no. So she lowered her arm, but he did stand a little closer and didn't drop her hand.

"I'm sorry," Suzue finally muttered.

"Why? You didn't do anything wrong," Naruto questioned, moving a little so he could peer at her face.

"For...hyperventilating...again...over something stupid."

"It's not stupid, right Teme? It's not stupid," Naruto protested.

"The Dobe's right," Sasuke agreed. "It makes you uncomfortable. And you...couldn't escape this time. Not like when we first met him. That's why you reacted so...reacted this time."

Suzue blinked looking at Sasuke. That was actually true. Last time, she had been able to walk away. This time though...

She had felt trapped, cornered with no way out. If there had been an option for her to escape, she would have probably done that instead of dissolving into a panic attack.

"You...don't," Suzue started, not sure if she wanted to ask. "You don't think I'm weak like...what that other boy suggested?"

"Suzue-chan!" Naruto whined, squeezing her even harder. "You're one of the most awesome people I know!"

"You can keep up with us. Hell, you win a lot of our spars," Sasuke added. "How can I think you're weak?"

"Because I have panic attacks over being approached romantically," Suzue answered.

"Well, I'm the only one who can be perfect," Sasuke shrugged not looking at her.

"Teme!"

A snort came from Suzue followed by a burst of giggles that became full-blown laughs as she realized Sasuke had just made a joke. Naruto kept asking what was funny and Sasuke's cheeks turned a faint pink color. Along with his ears.

After several minutes, Suzue finally managed to calm from the laughter and smiled at Sasuke. "So, you're perfect?"

"Of course," Sasuke scoffed. "I am an Uchiha."

"That doesn't mean you're perfect!" Naruto argued. Suzue turned awkwardly in her seat because she was still holding Sasuke's hand and didn't want to let go. But she turned and threw one arm around Naruto's shoulders to return the hug he hadn't stopped.

"You're perfect too, Naruto-kun," Suzue informed him. He made a noise that suggested he wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.

Then, "No, I'm not...Neither is Teme. We weren't able to keep Bushy Brows from scaring you."

That made Suzue jolt a little as she realized that she hadn't really been scared of Lee. She had been more...

"Pissed."

"Huh?" both boys questioned.

"He didn't really scare me...more...he pissed me off," Suzue admitted. She wasn't scared of Lee, but she was annoyed with him because he wouldn't take no for an answer or respect her wishes even if she hadn't been the one telling him. Which, okay, she got that. She could see how he could think her teammates were keeping her from him and maybe not respecting her wishes. But still, she hated being angry at people. And Suzue didn't have a clue just how to express that anger in any way. So panic attack it was.

"Well, yeah, me too," Naruto agreed after a pause, making Suzue turn back to her teammate instead of her thoughts.

"His whole team was annoying," Sasuke added.

A beat then Naruto asked, "How about we do something about it?"

"Like what?"

"How about we prank them until the Second Exam is over?"

"Sounds like a plan," Suzue agreed.

"First off, for the second test," Anko called out once everyone was lined up in front of her with their sensei's and what appeared to be officials of the Exam lined up behind her with the Hokage right in the middle of them. "Congratulations on passing!"

An excited murmur sounded from the genin as they realized they had passed. All of the Rookie teams had passed along with the Sand Siblings, Kabuto's team, and Team Gai. Same as from the Story before, with the only exception of the Sound nin missing.

'Wonder what that will do to the line-ups,' Suzue wondered as her eyes drifted once again to Neji and his now short hair. She still wasn't sure just how Naruto had managed to pull that off. All she knew was that it had involved glitter and honey. Tenten had probably done the haircut/trim for Neji since Suzue was sure that Lee would have used the opportunity to give Neji a bowl cut like him and Gai. Instead, it was an A-line cut that was as short as Hinata's hair in the back but had the hair framing his face brush against his shoulders.

"Hokage-Sama will now explain the third test," Anko shouted at them once the murmuring started dying down. "Listen carefully!"

"For the coming third test," Hokage started then paused before starting again. "But before I explain that...There is something I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam. Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together? 'To promote friendship among the countries', 'To raise the level of shinobi'. I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is a replacement for war among the allied countries."

"What does that mean?" Suzue heard Tenten mutter. The younger girl glanced at her before turning her attention back to the Hokage. She vaguely remembered this speech from the Story, but she wasn't sure the Hokage was correct in saying this was a replacement for war. She felt if it genuinely was then more of the major villages would actually participate.

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule," the Hokage went on. "In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries chose for a battle, that is the origins of the Chunin Selection Exam."

"Why the hell do we have to do that crap? Isn't this thing for deciding who's a Chunin?" Naruto shouted at the Hokage, making Suzue twitched and fought the urge to curl into herself.

"It is a fact that this exam decides which shinobi have what it takes to become a Chunin," the Hokage acknowledged before continuing. "But on the other hand, this exam has another side. Where each country's shinobi risks their own life to protect their land's prestige."

"Prestige?" Ino repeated making Suzue flick her eyes to the blonde in confusion. Did she really not get it? It was the two sides putting forth their champions to duke it out instead of throwing every able body man at each other. Then Suzue remembered that Ino probably didn't know what the third 'test' was for this exam since she didn't know that she might be somewhat confused about what the Hokage s.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi," the Hokage continued like Ino hadn't said anything but still answering her question. "And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients, and conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients. And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'our village has this much power'. So it will send a political message to the outsiders."

"Yeah, but why!? Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?!" Kiba shouted, sounding prissy.

'Because you are now a shinobi and when your Hokage says jump, you do it without even bothering to ask how high,' Suzue thought in annoyance. Were her former classmates really having that much of a difficult time swallowing this? She thought Sarutobi was straight forward with his speech. And really, that question was not something Kiba, as an actual shinobi, should be asking; especially in front of the foreign ninja.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle."

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," Suzue muttered under her breath as the rest of the genin processed that statement.

"This Exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own strength," the Hokage went on, probably not even hearing her statement. "It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And that's why those that have come before you have fought in the Chunin Exam, for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then why, do you say stuff about it being for 'friendship'?" Tenten questioned.

"I said it, in the beginning, I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi," the Hokage explained. "Before we begin the third test, I will tell you one more thing; this is not just a test. This is a life-risking battle. With your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

Silence as he let that sink in. Then Naruto muttered, "I get it." And Suzue could hear the grin in his voice, making her roll her eyes. Somehow she wasn't sure he got the full meaning behind the Hokage's speech. She wasn't sure any of the Rookies genuinely grasp the whole meaning. Except maybe Shikamaru. If he even bothered to care enough to give it more than a passing thought.

Suzue could now see that the Chunin Exams were the equivalent of two armies sending out their strongest fighters to duke it out between themselves to the death to determine the winner of the battle/war with becoming Chuunin a side effect. And the Exams had the added bonus of gathering information on upcoming ninja in the village and learning about them before they got going in their Shinobi career. Anyone who ended up in the tournament part also became the face of shinobi of the village they were representing.

Suzue wondered what types of spies the villages would have attending the tournament part to view everything. Her guess would be civilian informants who could fly under a shinobi's perspiration since they were civilian.

Ame was probably pissed that they didn't get anyone into the third exam. Or they were going to be pissed. She wasn't sure if they knew the results yet. She was beginning to see why Ame might have sent so many teams into the Exams. If they had managed to get even one of their genin into the Third Exam and thus the tournament, it would have raised more awareness for that village and bring in more clients if Ame had even been aiming for that.

Didn't Ame hate Konoha or something? Pain/Pein did, right? Maybe it what as just to have one of their genin prove they were better than all of Konoha's genin even in their home turf. That failed.

"I don't care what it is," Gaara said, pulling Suzue from her thoughts. "Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

"Yes," the Hokage agreed. "I'd like to now explain the third test. But..."

"Actually," someone spoke up with a cough. Suzue sense metal move and then the shinobi who had been standing next to Anko appeared in front of the Hokage. "I apologize Hokage-Sama, from here on, as the referee, will you please allow me, Gekkou Hayate..."

"By all means," the Hokage answered when Hayate had a bit of a coughing fit before he could finish. He nodded before standing up.

"Hello everyone, I'm Hayate," the shinobi greeted before turning around to reveal his pale skin and sunken eyes. "Before the third test, there's... something I'd like you to do..."

Suzue blinked as she realized that Hayate did look like he was going to fall dead at a moment's notice. She did remember him as the shinobi that got killed by Gaara or Baki (she couldn't remember which anymore). And he had a girlfriend? Maybe...Suzue couldn't recall at the moment. And it was weird seeing this man and having the knowledge he was going to die within the next month. She had no idea if she could even save him. Wasn't sure when he died. A night of a full moon? But she had no idea where other than in the village and the village was huge.

Folding her arms in front of her, Suzue tried to stop thinking about the man in front of them and his impending fate/doom. He was talking anyway.

"It's a preliminary for the third test, to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

"Preliminary?" Shikamaru shouted, sounding pissed. "What do you mean?"

Hayate coughed before answering, "Basically the first and second tests have been too easy this year. We have a bit too many people remaining. According to Chuunin Exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test. As Hokage-Sama indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third test. So the fights could take too long, we are limited in time..."

Another round of coughing before he continued. "So anyway, those who are not feeling well, those who feel like quitting after these explanations. Please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminary immediately."

"What?! Right now?!" Kiba shouted.

Naruto glanced behind at her and Sasuke. Suzue turned and gave Sasuke a look as well. He nodded, showing that he was still willing to go through with this. So Suzue turned to face Naruto, giving him a faint smile and nodding as well. All of Team Seven was going to continue. Though if Suzue had to fight against Gaara she was forfeiting. Maybe against Lee too.

"Ummm, I'm going to quit," Kabuto suddenly announced, raising his hand.

"What?! Seriously?" Naruto shouted, giving a wide-eyed look at Kabuto then turning to Suzue. She just shrugged making Naruto frown and turn to the front again as Hayate finished coughing.

"You're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from Konoha, right? You may leave now," Hayate dismissed before going through another coughing fit. Once finished, he asked, "Does anyone else want to retire? Oh, I forgot to tell you that from now on it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgment."

"You're seriously just going to quit?" Naruto threw at Kabuto, sounding highly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," Kabuto offered. "But my body is all beat up. Actually, I haven't been able to hear out of my left ear from the time when I got attacked by the sound nin before the first test, and now we'll have to risk our lives...I just..."

"Tch, if that's how you act, no wonder you never pass the Exam," Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms. "Who'll want you as a Chunin anyways?"

That was it for Naruto. Suzue eyed Kabuto, and his teammates exchange a hushed discussion that didn't carry at all before Kabuto walked out of the room. Another hushed conversation was happening among the adults as well, that Suzue couldn't hear either.

A grunt from behind her had Suzue turning to see Sasuke wince in pain as he grabbed the mark on his neck. Suzue gave a soft tug on his armband to pull his attention and gave him a look. He gave her a look back, before straightening up. Though he seemed to grimace at whatever pain he was feeling. With a sigh, Suzue turned back to around. She gave Naruto a weak smile as she spotted him frowning at her. He lifted his eyebrow at her, and she shook her head. Getting the message, he too turned back around.

"Now, there are no more retiring, right?" Hayate asked. He waited a long moment before continuing once the commotion behind him finished. Since Kakashi was involved, she wondered if they had been talking about forcing Sasuke out of the Exam. She couldn't remember if they had or not in The Story. Though she was pretty sure, Orochimaru had alerted them to the mark he left on Sasuke.

"Let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real-life confrontation. Since we now have 17 entrants, one of you get a free pass to the Third Exam, and we will conduct eight matches. The winners will advance to the Third Test."

Another round of coughing.

"There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies, is knocked out, or admits your defeat. If you don't want to die, then quickly acknowledge your defeat. But when I decided that the winner has clearly been established," Hayate started only to pause as he coughed. "Since we don't want to pointlessly increase the number of corpses. I'll jump in and stop things. And the object that controls your destiny is..."

Suzue watched as a panel opened above the hand sign statue to reveal a screen. Once it was fully open, showing a computer screen, Hayate continued after finishing another round of coughing.

"This is an electronic scoreboard. The matchups for each battle will be shown on this screen. Now, this is sudden, but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

A beat of silence then a ping and Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi appeared on the screen. Suzue was now 99.9 percent certain the tournament was rigged.

"Now, these two entrants come to the front," Hayate called. Sasuke and the other fellow walked up to stand facing each other in front of Hayate. Once there, the older shinobi continued. "The two participants in the first fight are Akado Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Sasuke answered.

"Yes..." Akado agreed.

"Then, we will be starting the first match. Will everyone except the two participants more to the upper level?"

Everyone started moving, and Naruto began to call out to Kakashi-sensei as Suzue moved towards Sasuke.

"You need anything?" Suzue asked.

"No, I have everything," Sasuke answered and sent her a smirk. She felt her lips twitch up into a faint smile as Kakashi made his way over to them. The two of them had a brief muttered conversation that had Sasuke looking annoyed by the end of it.

"Sensei?" Suzue questioned as he started shooing her and Naruto up the stairs.

"I hear you three had quite an interesting time in the Forest."

"That's one way to put it," Suzue snorted as she let him herd her up the stairs. "Did my brother tell you we ran into The Plant?"

"I think he might have mentioned that," Kakashi hummed. Naruto muttered something about fire and nothing surviving as they staked out their place on the upper levels. Naruto crouched down to sit on the floor while Suzue leaned against the railing to watch.

"Now," Hayate started in a surprisingly loud voice that carried throughout the room. "Please begin."

The moment the words left his mouth, Sasuke was moving. He flung what Suzue recognized as one of the itching bombs Naruto had made for them during their downtime. Akado had to abort the movement he started to try and dodge the item, but he didn't get away fast enough, and some of the dust landed on him. He was quick to brush it off, but that just help it spread.

"Quick little thing, aren't you?" Akado taunted as he made a hand seal. Now it was on both his hands.

"Quick enough for you. Has it started yet?" Sasuke threw back, smirking. "You should be feeling it."

That made Akado pause in reaching for his hip pouch. His arm was twitching.

"You should forfeit now, or you can scratch yourself to death. Your choice," Sasuke offered.

"Itching powder? Really?" Akado snorted as he continued his moments. "I'll be finished with this before it even really sets in."

"You sure about that?" Sasuke taunted as Akado threw something at him. Instead of deflecting, he dodged to the left. The sudden movement had him wincing, and Akado was suddenly in his space, grabbing Sasuke. He twisted out of the way, pulling something else out of his hip pouch and slamming it on Akado defenseless back. The glass bottle broke, spilling its contents down the other nin's back. Akado recovered from the missed grab and tried for another one, but Sasuke was dancing away from him though ended up stumbling a bit.

Then Akado's clothes started smoking.

"Wha?" the older nin started before screaming. "It burns!"

He repeated that over and over as he scrambled to pull his clothes off. But Suzue knew it was too late for him if he was already feeling his skin burn.

"Do you forfeit?" Sasuke asked again, looking almost bored. Though he had a grimace on his face meaning that the seal was probably bothering him still. Unlike Suzue, Sasuke didn't know how to pull his chakra into a tight little ball. And every time he actively used chakra, whether he was aware he was doing it or not, the seal hurt him.

"I forfeit! I forfeit! Make it stop!" Akado screamed, still trying to his shirt off. But the itching powdered had kicked in, and he kept trying to scratch at his hands and arms.

"Winner by forfeit, Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate declared. "Kid, do you have a counter for that acid?"

Sasuke grunted but handed the neutralizing agent over. "Water will take care of the itching powder."

Medics rushed to the still screaming man and started tending to him then swept him from the room, and in a blink, Kakashi was standing behind Sasuke, book out. They had a brief exchange before Kakashi was leading Sasuke out of the room as well.

"Wait? Isn't Sasuke going to watch the rest of the matches with us? What if one us has to fight?" Naruto questioned pulling at Suzue's skirt.

"I guess Kakashi-sensei is going to take care of his seal," Suzue muttered as she crouched down to Naruto's level.

"Couldn't that have waited until after we're all done?" Naruto huffed. "I mean, we've waited this long already."

Suzue just made a noncommittal noise as she watched the board for the next match. She blinked as Akimichi Chouji vs. Aburame Shino appeared on the screen. "Didn't see that one coming."

"Huh? Choji and Shino?" Naruto blinked. "Who do you think will win?"

"...Shino," Suzue decided as she watched Team Ten's sensei, Asuma, have to resort to bribery for Chouji to even fight in the match.

"Yeah, I agree," Naruto laughed. They sat in silence as they watch Choji halfheartedly attack Shino. Ino was shouting something about winning for the BBQ which seemed to make Chouji put a little more effort into his attacks but...about five minutes later Chouji just dropped, and a small swarm of bugs flew from Chouji to Shino.

"Huh? What happened to Choji?"

"I'm pretty sure Shino-san's bugs eat chakra," Suzue answered, leaning even more on the metal railing in front of her. "I think Shino-san had them just eat Chouji-san's chakra until he collapsed."

"Guess that works," Naruto shrugged. "Hey, Suzue-chan, is Kakashi going to take you away to fix up your seal thingy too?"

"Probably."

"That means you're going to miss all the fights too," Naruto pouted.

"Unless I'm the last one to fight," Suzue countered.

"...Well, I hope you end up being the last. I don't want to be the only here," Naruto mumbled. Suzue glanced at her teammate before adjusting her position to lean on Naruto's shoulder. Then she wrapped one arm around his waist.

"Well, if I'm not, make sure to take lots of notes for Sasuke and me...if I win."

"Of course you'll win, you're always way too sneaky not too," Naruto countered as he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and leaned back against her.

"If you say so," Suzue grumbled.

"Well, don't you two look cozy. Should I keep this from Sasuke-kun, so he doesn't get jealous?"

Both Naruto and Suzue jumped at the sound of their sensei's voice just behind them. Turning, Naruto jumped to his feet, pointing at Kakashi. "Don't say things like that!"

"Is Sasuke okay now?" Suzue asked, one hand clutching at her heart in an effort to stop it from beating so fast.

"He's resting," Kakashi answered, patting her on the head. "You don't have to worry about him now."

Suzue couldn't help the 'do-you-think-I'm-stupid-and-going-to-accept-that' look she gave Kakashi. Then frown. "Sensei? Are you alright? You look a little pale."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, leaning into Kakashi's space to see what Suzue had seen.

"Oh, look," Kakashi said in a flat tone as he pulled out his book. "The third match is starting."

"What?! Who is it? Oh, it's that guy," Naruto rambled, leaning over the rail to see better. After a moment he plopped back down next to Suzue. Suzue let her gaze linger on Kakashi for a bit longer before turning back to watch the match that Hayate just started. Obviously, Kakashi wasn't going to share with them.

The fight was between Kankuro and Tsurugi Misumi, the same as she remembered from the Story. As far as Suzue could tell, it happened in the same way too. She was unquestionably sure Kankuro had beatrn Tsurugi by switching out with his puppet or something along those lines.

"Does that count as two people?" Naruto asked once Kankuro was announced the winner.

"No, Cat-Ear guy was using a puppet," Suzue answered. "It's as much of a weapon as any kunai."

"Oh, okay," Naruto nodded wisely. Then paused. "Cat-Ear Guy?"

"His hood thing makes it look like he has cat ears," Suzue muttered.

"Huh, you're right, it does," Naruto hummed as he studied the Sand-nin as he made his way back up to upper levels. "Good nickname for him."

"I'm glad it has the Naruto-kun seal of approval," Suzue deadpanned making Naruto cackle.

"Hey, Ino's up! And against Cat-Ear Guy's teammate," Naruto suddenly announced.

A glance towards the board did reveal that Ino was up against Temari, not Gaara. Suzue blinked in surprise. She had half expected to fight Ino herself, replacing Sakura. Guess that wasn't going to happen.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Naruto asked as the girls walked up to the middle of the floor.

"If Ino shrieks loud enough, she might KO the Sand-nin," Suzue offered, making Naruto snort.

"Teme's not here for her to shriek at though," Naruto countered.

"Then I don't know," Suzue shrugged though she was going to put money on Temari winning this round.

There was a bit of trash talking, mostly on Ino's part, before Ino moved to attack. Temari easily batted Ino away with her fan, not even opening it to use a jutsu. Ino went skidding across the floor and hit the wall before she could stop herself. The battle didn't improve from that. Within the first ten seconds of the fight, it was evident that Temari was merely playing with Ino. She didn't drag the battle out, though. And with one wind Jutsu, Ino was out cold.

"Erg, I was sort of hoping Ino would win, even if she's annoying," Naruto grumbled.

"She was rather outmatched," Suzue noted. "The Sand team is rather powerful."

"I guess," Naruto pouted. There was a ping, and the next match was on the board. "No! Suzue-chan, your match is next!"

"Your turn will come soon enough, Naruto-kun," Kakashi commented as he flipped a page in his book.

"I know," Naruto growled. "But now you're going to take Suzue-chan away and leave me all alone!"

Kakashi stilled. "And why would I need to take Suzue-chan away?"

"Because that Snake Ghost guy did something to her too? You knew about Teme's mark," Naruto answered in confused tones.

"He marked you too?" Kakashi demanded, tone hard and serious.

"It's different than whatever he did to Sasuke," Suzue explained. "Now, I have a fight to win."

"Suzue."

"I'm fine! You let Sasuke fight, I know my limits," Suzue smiled brightly. "You can check me over after the fight. Shouldn't take too long anyway."

"...Fine," Kakashi allowed, leaning back on the wall. But, even though he still had his book out, he wasn't focused on it. "But if anything goes wrong, I'm pulling you from the exams."

"Yes, Sensei," Suzue agreed as she made her way down to the floor where Tenten was waiting for her.

"Kick Bushy Brow's teammate's ass!" Naruto shouted as encouragement. Suzue gave him a thumbs up in acknowledgment as she made her way across the floor.

"I'm kind of excited to fight against you of all people. I have a few things to repay you for," Tenten taunted, a smirk on her lips. Suzue just made a noise as Hayate got his coughing out of the way.

"The fifth match, Hagiwara Suzue vs. Tenten...Begin!"

As soon as "begin" was out of Hayate's mouth, Tenten opened her mouth, probably to trash talk at her, but Suzue was already moving and ready for her first attack. Before Hayate had even said begin, Suzue had taken a deep breath, holding it while she dumped a powder, Naruto had made for her into the palm of her hand from a package up her sleeve. The moment 'begin' was said, Suzue had brought her hand up to her lips and exhaled the powder into Tenten's face. She jerked, surprised, but she was too unprepared for an enemy who wouldn't wait. She couldn't dodge the cloud of powder as it landed on her face.

"What the? Itching..." Tenten started as started blinking rapidly only to trail off as the pepper dust mix started working. A sharp gasp and Tenten did the worst thing she could have done. She rubbed her eyes.

Suzue was already moving, a sweeping kick had Tenten unbalanced and the next moment had Suzue pinning Tenten to the floor with a kunai at her neck.

"Does this count as a win?" Suzue asked Hayate who blinked at her. "I can easily slit her throat before she could do anything."

"Ummm, yes. Hagiwara Suzue, winner of the fifth match."

Tenten at least wasn't screaming, but the pepper had worked into her eyes enough that she had tears streaming down her face and there was the hint of sobs in every breath she took. Suzue quickly got off the other girl and back away a step.

"Your students don't seem to be very youthful," a voice sounded behind her and Suzue turned to see Gai and Kakashi standing there. Kakashi rested a hand on her shoulder and gently moved her closer to him.

"You say something?" Kakashi asked, not looking up from the book that he was still holding.

"Kakashi," Gai started.

"We have students to take care of," Kakashi interrupted.

"It's just pepper dust. It should be easy for the medics to take care of," Suzue offered. Gai gave her a look that she didn't know how to interpreted. But somehow, Suzue Got the feeling Gai didn't like her very much at the moment.

The world suddenly spun, and she was standing somewhere else, Kakashi still next to her. Suzue looked around, trying to get her bearings, not sure where she was now. "Kakashi?"

"We're still in the tower. Now let me see that seal that you say is different than Sasuke's," Kakashi ordered, book now nowhere in sight.

Suzue deliberated for a moment before shrugging and turning her back to Kakashi while pulling her dress over her head, leaving her in only her modesty shorts and thigh hostels. She pulled her hair over her shoulder to bare her back and where the seal was.

There was a sigh then fingertips gently touched the skin where Suzue was pretty sure the mark was. Kakashi was silent for several minutes as he studied the mark and Suzue stayed still, waiting. Then he sighed and withdrew his fingers.

"You're right; it is different than Sasuke's," Kakashi informed her. "Put your dress back on; we need to take you to see a couple of experts on seals."

"A couple?" Suzue repeated as she did as instructed. She thought Jiraiya was the only seal expert. Though she guessed he could be the best expert and that there were others; which made sense since Jiraiya was never in the village. "What about Naruto?"

"I left a clone with him so he wouldn't get lonely," Kakashi answered with his eye smile. "But for now we need to get going. Both you and Sasuke waited way too long to have these looked at."

Suzue winced. "We just wanted to see the Chunin Exams through. See if we could make it through, which we can since we managed without the use of chakra."

"Yes, so impressive," Kakashi acknowledged in an unimpressed tone. "But what's done is done, and we need to see that is taken care of."

And with that, Kakashi turned away and led her out the tower back to the village.

Sorry, it took so long, but it's longer than normal. I hope everyone is doing well and you enjoy the chapter. I hope to have the next chapter out sooner than this one. Thank you, everyone, who reviewed and like this story!